DHS reviews guidelines for monitoring social media

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - The revolutions that culminated in the overturning of governments in three North African countries have prompted the U.S. government to develop guidelines for culling intelligence from social networks.

Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary Caryn Wagner says the use of social media by revolutionaries in those countries prompted questions of whether the U.S. needs to do a better job of monitoring it domestically. Wagner is in charge of intelligence and analysis at the department.

Wagner says the department is working on establishing guidelines on what information gleaned from social media such as Twitter and Facebook means to law enforcement. Wagner says those guidelines are being developed under strict laws meant to prevent spying on Americans.

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